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I had a fabulous lunch today with my former coworker and friend, Andre Medeiros. Our conversation turned to investing and he recommended a book, Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes — And How to Correct Them by Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilarch. Both he and his wife Christine vouch for the book’s readability, so I think I might just pick up a copy next time I find myself in a bookstore.

Why do so many otherwise rational individuals make irrational decisions when it comes to money? Financial journalist Gary Belsky and Cornell University psychology professor Thomas Gilovich contend the answers can be found–and the deficiencies remedied–with help from a relatively new science called behavioral economics. Still largely unknown outside academic circles, the field can be traced to research on the impact of rewards and punishments on human judgment and decision- making that first were undertaken at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University some 30 years ago. In Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes , Belsky and Gilovich update this pioneering work and show readers how to understand exactly why they invest, spend, and save as they do. More importantly, using examples that everyone can identify with and language that anyone can understand, the authors offer dozens of workable suggestions that can help readers manage their money better. “We believe that by identifying the psychological causes behind many types of financial decisions,” they write, “you can effectively change your behavior in ways that will ultimately put more money in your pocket and help you keep more of what you already have.”